


A New Family

by orphan_account



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Accidental Marriage, Asexual Character, F/F, If your handle is stradd you can kindly never read anything i write ever again, post 2.08
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-07 02:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8778994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: While Lena dismantled Cadmus, she discovered another one of her mother's projects. A baby, with her and Supergirl's genetics.





	1. We have a child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edited 12/14

Lena sat alone in her office, absentmindedly swirling whiskey around in a lowball glass. A computer was spread across her glass desk, hardware removed from its casing and further deconstructed. A soldering iron sat in its stand on the far corner of her desk, unplugged and cooling. Lena eyed the bits and pieces of electronics scattered across her desk as she thought.

It had been hours since Jess had gone home and several more since she had asked the woman to clear her schedule for the next day. She needed time to think about what she wanted to do with the research she had recovered from her mother’s Cadmus project.

Destroying most of the files had been a simple decision and was quickly done, but that wasn’t what nagged at her. There was one more problem, one more thing that she had to talk to Supergirl about first.

 _Or Kara_ , Lena supposed. Even before she had gotten access to her mother’s files, she had already known that the innocent-looking reporter that routinely visited her was also the savior of the city. She wasn’t mad that her only friend hadn’t told her, a little sad maybe, but not mad. She understood.

Just as she was musing, there was a soft knock at the door.

“It’s Kara,” said a familiar voice. Kara opened the door just enough to stick her head into the room. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you or anything in a while, it’s just that I-“

“It’s fine, Kara,” Lena said quickly, cutting off the other woman. “I actually needed some time alone.”

“Oh.” Kara fought hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She had wanted to visit Lena first thing when she got back from Barry’s earth, but she was willing to wait if Lena needed time.

“But I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” Lena continued, hoping to quell any distress in her friend. She paused for a moment before finishing. “It’s about my mother– Lillian’s – project.”

“What about it?” Kara asked, finally fully letting herself into the office space.

Lena motioned for her to sit on the couch, taking the time between closing her laptop and joining Kara to think over her words. _How do you just tell someone something that big?_

“We have a child,” she blurted out after she sat down. _Great going, Lena_ , she thought to herself.

“We have- what?” Kara stammered. “ _We_ have a chi- this is a joke, right?”

“To clarify, we have a fetus,” Lena replied. “But no, it isn’t a joke.” She sounded a lot calmer than she was.

“A _fetus?_ ” Kara’s face reddened. “I still don’t- I’ve only been – we haven’t even had _sex_ , not that I’d be opposed, but _how?_ ”

“My mother fused Supergirl's and my own genetics together,” Lena began. She saw more than felt her hands and fingers gesturing in her lower peripheral vision.

"Supergirl's?" Kara asked dumbly. "Yours and... and Supergirl's?"

"Meaning yours and mine." Lena briefly looked away from Kara and took a deep breath before looking back. 

Kara was stunned. Words seemed like they were trying to come out but no sound passed her moving lips.

"I know you're Supergirl, Kara," Lena continued. Kara promptly closed her mouth. 

Minutes passed.

“So we have…”  Kara fumbled, trying to find the right words, “a baby?”

“Not quite.” Lena sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. The conversation was going much better than she was expecting, but it was still stressful. “She’s almost to term. Mother and her team managed to stabilize her genome and age her rapidly. She’s perfectly healthy for a human-Kryptonian blend. “

“I have a daughter?” The question came out so softly Lena also didn’t hear it. There was a small glimmer in Kara's eyes and Lena realized that the woman looked like she was about to cry.

“…Yes,” Lena answered tentatively, hoping it was the answer Kara wanted to hear, but then started backtracking when she realized it might not be. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I can -”

“I can have a family?” Kara’s face broke out into a smile and Lena found herself relaxing. “I have a daughter!”

Lena was taken by surprise when Kara suddenly shot up, picking Lena up by her waist, laughing and spinning her around. Just as suddenly, she was dropped back onto the couch while Kara started pacing and rambling.

“Oh Rao, we have to get a crib and everything. What if she has my super strength, how did Kal’s parents handle that? Oh no, what if I’m not a good mom?"

Lena watched, amused, as Kara thought aloud about everything needed for a baby. Cribs, babysitters, the DEO- which Lena assumed was the agency Agent Danvers was actually working for-, and so many other things that spilled out from Kara so quickly that it was barely intelligible. She caught wind of something about cost and was about to offer her own money when Kara stopped.

The blonde turned to Lena, fear and doubt prominent in her eyes.

“Do… do you want her?” Kara half-stuttered out.

Then it was Lena’s turn to stop.

She had spent the last few days wondering how to tell Kara that she hadn’t even considered her own thoughts about the child- _her_ child? Sure, she had domestic fantasies including the woman in front of her, but this was so _sudden_ and they weren’t even in a _relationship_. She looked away from Kara and found a blank space of wall to stare at while she thought, not even realizing that more than a few seconds had passed without her saying anything.

“I’ll take care of her on my own!” Kara nearly shouted, shocking Lena out of her reverie. “You don’t need to do anything, I shouldn’t have expected to suddenly have a _relationship_ with you and be our own little family and… and…” Kara’s voice drifted off as she struggled to find words to say.

“I- I want her,” Lena stuttered out when Kara settled. “S-she deserves a family.”

So maybe Lena was terrified out of her mind about this. Maybe having a baby with someone she had only known for a few months was a terrible and crazy idea. Maybe a Super and a Luthor working together to  _raise a baby_ wasn't the safest plan. But the baby was hers. The baby was hers and she just lost another family and  _to hell with it and bad ideas_ she was  _not_ going to let  _her_ baby lose a family too.

Lena's more confident when she said it again.

"She deserves a family."

//

Lena led Kara down to the lab where the baby was kept. The building was devoid of others and their footsteps echoed through the hall as they walked to the elevator and then once again as they walked to the lab. Lena leads Kara down a hall off to the side from the other labs with big glass windows and opened a door that was missing the white label the other labs had.

The lab was much smaller than the other ones in the L-Corp building. Bereft of any other equipment, the room only contained a pod-like incubator that emitted a soft yellow glow. Lena opted to leave the lights off in favor of letting the incubator illuminate the room. 

The incubator was small, standing only about three feet high. It was like a glass tube almost completely encased by metal aside from a small window to peer inside. Through the window was a small form, suspended in yellow liquid.

Kara knelt in front of it, brushing her fingertips along the glass window. Her touch was gentle, as if she was afraid she could break it or hurt the baby behind it. From behind Kara, Lena watched as the baby squirmed at the touch.

“Hush hush, little one,” Kara whispered, fingers still stroking the glass. “I’m your mama, sweetheart, and I’m going to take such good care of you.”

Kara turned her head and looked at Lena. She gently took Lena’s hand and guided her to her knees next to Kara in front of the incubator.

“This is your other mama,” Kara continued, looking Lena right in the eyes like she was willing her to participate. Hesitantly, Lena raised her hand to the glass as well.

“I’m going to love you,” she began. She looked at Kara who nodded at her to keep going. “We’re going to love you so much.”

//

Lena had offered for them to go back up to the office but Kara had been adamant about staying near their baby. They had ended up removing some of the more comfortable chairs from a nearby conference room to sit near the incubator instead.

“So, what are we?” Kara asked while continued stroking the glass window.

“What do you mean?”

“We have a baby together, right?” Lena nodded. “And we’re going to raise her together?” Another nod. “So what does that make us?”

“Parents,” Lena said easily, not thinking much on it. 

“We’re not going to be… involved?” Kara asked. Lena could see Kara’s ears tinting red, even in the low lighting. 

“Do you _want_ to be involved?” _Lena_ wanted to be involved. Sure, she had pictured going on a date or two, then asking Kara to be here girlfriend instead, but she could roll with the punches life hit her with. And this time, the punch was a possible new family after losing her old one so this was a much better punch than previous ones had been.

“If you want to be,” Kara said,  refusing to give a definite answer or make eye contact with Lena.

“I want to be," Lena said, trying to sound casual. This was  _definitely_ not how she pictured it happening.

“So we’re involved now, like, romantically,” Kara said, nodding to herself. “Maybe I’m a baby in too late to ask this, but do you want to go on a date with me?”

“You’d be surprised how long I’ve been waiting for you to ask that," Lena laughed. "For the record, that's a 'yes'."


	2. First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage- Wait, what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edited 12/14

Kara had spent the last two hours practically glued to the incubator, watching the little body move around and float in the fluid behind the window. Sometimes she would hum the lullabies her mother and father had sung to her back on Krypton when she was little or she would speak in the language she had rarely had the chance to speak anymore, an Argo City lilt on her tongue, like she was willing the baby to learn her language even if she hadn’t been born yet. Before she knew it, sunrise was quickly approaching and the mother-to-be was nearly falling asleep on top of the machine.

“You should sleep,” Lena insisted after Kara had yawned for the umpteenth time.

Kara didn’t fight when Lena picked her up from the floor, but she kept her fingertips on the glass until it was out of her reach. She didn’t fight as Lena led her out of the lab and the office building. She didn’t fight when Lena led her to the parking garage. She didn’t fight when Lena led her to an unassuming, gray-colored car and put her in the passenger’s seat. She didn’t fight when sleep took over.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up.

The side of her forehead was pressed against a cold window and she could hear humming to her side. She lifted her head and adjusted herself, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. As her grogginess faded, she realized why the humming seemed familiar and turned to face Lena.

“How do you know that song?” she asked. Her words are slurred, still drenched in sleep.

“You were humming it to the baby for hours,” Lena answered, eyes never leaving the road.

 _I was humming?_ Why was she humming _that_ song in years- _oh._ Right. She had a baby. A little girl. A tiny, small angel with Lena’s dark hair- _Or dad’s_ , she thought to herself. She and Lena, inexplicably, have a baby _together_.

“We have a baby,” Kara whispered. It comes out so quietly Lena almost misses it, but she felt Kara staring at her and nodded without a word.

Then they’re pulling up to a curb Kara knew all too well and neither made a move.

“It’s late,” Kara said while she fidgeted with the door handle, careful not to snap it off. Lena looked over towards her, but Kara looked down at her hands, not making eye contact. “You can sleep here, i-if you want.”

“Just because we’re going to have a child doesn’t mean you have-“

“I want you to.” Kara finally looked up. “Being involved, it doesn’t- it isn’t just because of the baby. I didn’t just ask because of the baby. Not about being involved, not about right now.” The sureness in her voice grew with each word. “When Mike kissed me-”

“ _Who_ kissed you?”

“-I realized I wanted you,” Kara finished, ignoring Lena’s question. “Baby or not, I was going to do something tonight. I don’t know what, but I wanted _something_ with you.” Kara took a deep breath. “So, if you want to come up, please do, because I would really like that.”

There was a heavy pause. The confidence Kara had held slipped away and she resumed fidgeting with the door handle while she waited for Lena’s answer, but she refused to break eye contact.

“I would like that, too,” Lena finally said. She put her car in park and unbuckled her seatbelt. “And we really need a name for the baby, we can’t just keep calling her ‘the baby’.” She smiled and her eyes crinkled just a little bit.

 _I hope she has your smile_ , Kara thought.

They finally get out of the car and, even though Kara still had so much more she wanted to say, it was nearly five in the morning so she held her tongue. She opened the door and motioned for Lena to go in first, locking the door behind them as quietly as possible. Kara tossed her keys onto the table before she turned to Lena, who stood in the middle of the living room, the epitome of awkward and anxious in her work clothes and heels.

“Oh, right.” Kara sped off and came back, changed into gray long sleeves and dark blue sweats, and handed a pair of sleep clothes to Lena. “I think we’re about the same size? The bathrooms through my room.”

Lena took the offered clothes gingerly and looked over the clothes as she made her way to the bathroom. The shirt looked like it was the matching pair to Kara’s current sweats and small sharks dotted soft blue pants. Fuzzy purple and white striped socks were caught between them. Lena smiled as she quickly changed. The clothes just screamed _Kara_.

When she exited the bathroom, she walked in on Kara digging through the closet.

“Aha!” came a muffled shout. Kara stepped back in triumph, several blankets in her arms. She beamed at Lena as she deposited them onto the bed. At the quirk of Lena’s eyebrow, Kara quickly explained, “I don’t really feel the cold, but I think it might be a bit cold? So I found the winter blankets.”

“Thank you,” Lena said softly. She glanced around nervously as Kara arranged the blankets on the bed. “Um… how are we going to do this?” Kara was already halfway under the covers.

“Do you wanna be the little spoon or the big spoon?” Kara replied easily. She was completely under the covers now and lifted the other corner for Lena. “If you wanna be the little spoon, I can keep you warm. Just because it doesn’t snow here doesn’t mean it doesn’t get really cold at night.”

Lena chuckled and turned off the light before she climbed into bed next to Kara. She tried to settle in, but it’s awkward at first. They’re in bed together and suddenly they’re _maybe_ in a relationship and it’s _awkward_ and not just because they’re in bed together but because of how it happened. It was quiet, not an unpleasant kind of quiet, and Lena shifted around, trying to find a comfortable position.

“How did you know?” Kara asked suddenly, rolling over so she could look at Lena.

“How did I know what?” Lena turned in kind.

“That I was Supergirl.” There was no malice or ill intent behind her words, just simple curiosity. She looked right at Lena, eyes intent despite her exhaustion.

Without missing a beat, Lena answered, “You’re too beautiful for me not to recognize.”

“I was going to tell you,” Kara said. She yawned. "I really was."

“Were you?” Lena, scoffed, not really believing her. She’s a Luthor, why would Kara tell her that? Luthors weren’t the type people typically trusted and there are several reasons why a Super shouldn't trust a Luthor.

“It was one of the reasons I went to see you tonight, among others.” Kara rolled back onto her back and pulled the blanket partially off herself.

“Others?” There was a slight teasing tone in Lena’s voice. She started tracing light patterns on the back Kara’s exposed hand.

“I wanted to tell you I love you,” Kara continued sleepily. Her eyes started to shut and blinks became longer and longer.

“Love is a strong word, Kara.” Lena smiled despite herself. She was certain it was just the sleepiness that was talking. She waited for Kara to reply, but it was just quiet for a while and she assumed Kara had fallen asleep. Time passed and she was just about to sleep herself when she heard Kara’s soft voice.

“I feel things strongly.”

Lena smiled and Kara snored.

//

_Bzz. Bzz. Bzz._

Lena groaned and shoved her head further into- what was it? A small amount of groping later, she deducted that it was indeed Kara’s chest, but it was too late, her head was already on it and she was not going to move.

“Lena, wake up.” Despite her words, Kara did nothing to make the woman move. At some point during the night, she had ended up with her arm wrapped around Lena and she did not bother removing it.

A “no” was grumbled into her chest.

_Bzz. Bzz. Bzz._

“Come on, we have work,” Kara chided. Her arm was still wrapped around Lena and Lena’s head stayed where it was.

“No, you don’t. It’s your day off.”

Kara rolled her eyes.

_Bzz. Bzz. Bzz._

“ _You_ have work.”

“I canceled it.”

_Bzz. Bzz._

“You’re the CEO, you can’t just cancel your work.”

A scoff.

“I can _because_ I’m the CEO.”

“Fine, have it your way.” The words conveyed annoyance but Kara’s tone was still light. She reached over Lena and somehow, despite the physical restrictions Lena provided with her arms by using Kara as a teddy, managed to turn off the alarm.

She settled back into her apparent newfound profession- being one Lena Luthor’s teddy bear and pillow. At least it was more pleasant than being punched in the face by an alien or being yelled at by Snapper. She let the steady sound of Lena breathing lull her back to sleep.

//

Lena woke up first.

The sun was shining in her face and, unlike her Super-powered … someone, she did not derive powers from sunlight. She was bitter about the light shining in her face and waking her up so she tried to turn somewhere to hide from the light again. Except she turned into Kara’s chest. Again.

She tried to remove herself, now actually conscious of what she was doing, but Kara hugged onto her, not letting her go. As much as she tried to squirm and wriggle her way out of the iron hold, she made no headway and decided to settle in instead.

Thankfully, it was only a few minutes until Kara woke up and Lena managed to disentangle herself from the other’s arms.

Kara rolled out of the bed and padded out of the room, leaving her glasses on her sidetable. Lena followed suit, taking one of the blankets from the bed to protect her from the cold that never seemed to faze Kara.  It was a quick walk to the kitchen and Kara made a note of how Lena was actually a few inches _shorter_ than her when the woman didn’t have heels on.

Kara made herself busy by making breakfast, brushing Lena aside when she offered to help. Kara waved for her to go to the couch, so she did just that. She tucked herself into a corner, partially hidden by the blanket, and watched the other woman work around the kitchen.

Kara had just finished preparing what Lena could only assume was pancake batter when there was a knock on the door.

“Kara, it’s me! I know you can see me,” Alex called out. She lifted a bag of takeout and Kara could see the boxes of potstickers inside. “I’ve been calling you all day! Why aren’t you picking up?”

“Oh.” Right. She had called Alex to come over before she went to visit Lena last night. She sped off to grab her phone and realized that it hadn’t been plugged in and was out of battery. "Well then.”

She heard Alex unlock the door with the spare key.

“I swear, you leave me for days and now you’re not even-” Alex finally spotted Lena, still tucked into the corner of the couch and now trying very hard not to make eye contact. “Lena.”

Kara gulped when Alex turned to her and asked, “Care to explain why Lena Luthor was in your apartment before I was? And why she’s in _your_ clothes?”

//

A long discussion that ended with Kara doing her best to hide on the couch behind the blanket Lena was using later, the three sat around Kara's coffee table. The takeout was long forgotten on the table. 

“So you,” Alex began, pointing at Kara. “And you,” she said, moving her finger to point at Lena. “Have a baby.”

“Not yet?” Kara quieted again after a sharp look from Alex.

“And you’re going to keep her.” Alex was met with two nods. "And you expect me to help with the paperwork so you  _legally_ have a baby?" One strong nod and another hesitant one that followed. "I'm not telling Mom for you, Kara." Sheepish grin.

Alex buried her head in her hands, groaning.

She was thinking about how her _little_ sister was about to have a _child_. Her little sister who was _still_ a child. Her little sister who wasn’t _from_ earth- wait a second. Kara was from _Krypton_. She was from _Krypton,_ where having a baby meant- “Lena,” she said, slowly turning to face Lena. “Were you aware that, in Kara’s eyes, you two are married?”

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've heard the calls for Lexa, but I don't think that's going to work out. It'd be great because Alex, but also Lex and that's just a rabbit hole I don't need Lena going down. I do have a name in mind though, so now I'm deciding about another name and trying to figure out which should be the given name and which should be the middle name, if any.


	3. Family Planning

“Married?” Lena gave Kara a hard stare.

“Um… no?” Kara started panicking.

“Agent Danvers, would it be too much for me to ask you to leave?” Lena’s eyes never left Kara.

“I’ll start on the birth certificate and pregnancy records.” Alex stood up, taking a box of takeout as she stood, and made for the door.  “It should be done by the end of the week.”

The door closed and Lena and Kara sat in silence. Lena patiently stared at Kara, waiting for her to speak.  Minutes passed before Lena spoke again.

“Explain.” Simple. Short. Lena’s stare never wavered.

“Okay so… Let me finish first, okay?” Lena nodded.

Then Kara explained. She explained how, on Krypton, consummation of marriage was not sex like it was on earth but having a child. She explained how, even if marriage isn’t filed for, having a child meant a couple was married in the eyes of the law. She explained how divorce just didn’t exist and once a Kryptonian was bound to someone, it was for life until either one perished. She talked about how same-sex marriages produced a child the same way different-sex marriages did because pods like the one their baby was in were used to make a child instead of fornication.

“That doesn’t mean I expect you to think we’re married, too!” Kara was still panicked and had been rambling for nearly ten minutes, explaining things in circles to make sure all the bases were covered. “But that doesn’t change that I’m going to be dedicated to you and our baby. Even if we don’t work out, I’m not going to just leave and take her away.”

They sat in silence while Lena internalized what Kara had said and thought of a response.

“I’m not ready to be married,” she finally said. She pretended not to see the hurt that flashed in Kara’s eyes. “We had a baby first. She’s going to be here in a few weeks and, even though I’ve had feelings for you for a few months now, I’m just not ready to be married. Not right now.”

“I understand.” Lena saw the hurt look again.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be in the future,” Lena assured. She reached out and held Kara’s hand in between her own. “We’ve only known each other for a few months.” The hurt in Kara’s eyes eased.

“I won’t force you into anything you don’t want to.” Lena could hear a small crack in Kara’s voice. “You don’t have to marry me.”

“I would be lucky to marry you, Kara.” Lena rubbed soft circles just under Kara’s knuckles. “I think it would be nice if our child had a complete family.”

“You don’t have to marry me because we have a baby!”

“I want to marry you in the future,” Lena reassured. “After we get to know each other more, okay?”

Kara nodded and any lingering hurt had faded. She made no effort to remove her hands, enjoying the comforting motions of Lena’s thumb instead.

“Now let’s talk about baby names and raising her, okay?”

Kara perked right up and Lena laughed.

//

 Elena Morrigan.

That was the name they settled on rather early on. It contained “El” in it, which was really the only stipulation Kara had, and Morrigan was the name of Lena’s best friend at boarding school that had passed away before graduation. While that was settled and done with, they had been arguing for an hour over what the last name should be.

“Danvers,” Lena said adamantly. “Let the Luthor name die with me.”

“Luthor doesn’t mean evil!” Kara argued. “She’s _your_ baby, too! Your name should be part of hers!”

“I wasn’t _born_ a Luthor, so her last name should be _Danvers_.”

“I wasn’t born a Danvers either!”

“Elena Morrigan Danvers. It’s so much nicer than Luthor.”

“Luthor-Danvers.”

“Danvers.”

“Danvers-Luthor.”

“Danvers.”

“Lena!”

“That wasn’t an option.”

Kara glared at her… someone. Her Lena. “You know what I meant.”

“Please, Kara? I don’t want her to be a Luthor,” Lena almost begged. “She doesn’t need that shadow looming over her.”

“Okay,” Kara relented. “But we’re going to talk about it more, okay?”

“Only if we move in together.” Lena gave Kara a piercing stare.

“What?” Kara was taken aback at the sudden request. “Move in?”

“I don’t want to split Elena between two apartments like we’re a divorced couple arguing over custody.” She didn’t want to give up her child even a little bit. Elena was _hers_ , damn it, and she was going to raise her baby. “I want her to have a stable place to call home. Just one bedroom and singular holiday celebrations.”

“I don’t think my apartment is big enough for us and a baby.”

“Move into _my_ apartment,” Lena pushed. “I have plenty of room.”

“Your apartment is targeted, Lena.”

“Then we get another place.”

“That’s _expensive_.”

“I have more than enough money.”

Lena refused to relent. They stared hard at each other.

“…Okay,” Kara finally gave in.

“Okay?” Lena was shocked by the sudden turn. She had already formed several arguments to counter anything Kara had said and their argument ended earlier than she thought it would. “You will?”

“I want her to have one home, too.”

“We’re going to live together? Just like that?” Lena was still stunned.

“You’re the one who asked, why are you shocked?”

“I thought you were going to protest more.”

“I don’t want our baby to have divorced parents.”

_Oh. Divorce. Krypton doesn’t have that._

//

Apartment hunting was easy in National City.

Well, not really. It was an expensive city and even a crappy apartment was several hundred grand to buy and almost four grand per month to rent, Lena had money working in her favor.

Kara was stunned at the price range Lena had in mind. The only reason Kara had been able to afford her apartment was because the heater and air conditioning were broken, not to mention the stove, and it was a one bedroom farther from the city. But Lena wanted to live close to the city for an easy commute between her office and home in case the baby needed something. Kara couldn’t argue with that.

“Lena, this is ridiculous.” Kara spun around in the empty living room of the fourth apartment they visited. “There are six bedrooms. Six! Why do we need six?”

“Bedrooms for us and the baby, a study for you, workroom for me, and a spare room,” Lena listed nonchalantly from her spot next to Kara.

“I don’t need a study and that should only be four!”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re doing the math wrong.”

“Bedroom for us, bedroom for Elena, workroom, spare room. Four.” Kara raised a finger for each room needed as she listed them.

“We’re sharing a room?”

“Wait, no, sorry! I just – right, we shouldn’t –“

“We can share, if you would like. Would we also be sharing a bed?” Lena had enjoyed sharing a bed with someone. Specifically, she had enjoyed sharing a bed with Kara.

“We don’t have to, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Kara sputtered. She _wanted_ to sleep with her wife. _Not wife_ , she reminded herself. But she couldn’t just pressure Lena into this position, she’s already pressured her enough.

“We have a few weeks still to figure it out, but I think I’d like that.” Lena reached out to lace her fingers between Kara’s to help make her point.

“Oh.” Kara hummed happily, gently squeezing Lena’s hand. “Seriously though, can we look at smaller apartments, I can’t afford to help pay for this.”

“Who said I was going to let you pay for it? It was my idea to move.”

“But I –“

“Just pay for your own food and we’ll call it even,” Lena stated. Kara started to protest again before Lena cut her off.  “And don’t you protest because I don’t even want to think about how much your food costs and how much our baby will eat right now.”

Kara cringed. “Sorry.”

//

They finally settled on an apartment.

Lena rushed the paperwork on a four bedroom – after Kara argued her into sharing a workspace when Lena insisted Kara needed one – on the twelfth floor of a twenty-floor apartment complex. It was within a reasonable walking distance from a quality K-12 school and daycare – something that Lena was dead-set on despite the baby not even technically having an age of zero yet.

“Elena’s due just before Christmas,” Lena informed Kara while they sat down for lunch at Kara’s favorite Chinese place. “So we should have everything moved in before that so she can have a bed and everything ready for her.”

“She’s like a Christmas present!” Kara clapped her hands excitedly. She ate another potsticker before she spoke again. “What are you doing for Christmas?”

“I don’t really have family left, so I guess I’m staying at home.” Lena shrugged and poked around her plate, not making eye contact.

 “We can do something at the new apartment,” Kara offered. She reached over and squeezed Lena’s hand. “The baby’s going to be too little for me to go back to Midvale this year anyway.”

“You can invite your friends and family over, if you would like.”

“Would you be okay with that?”

“Sure, I can stay out of the way for a night.” There were scraping sounds from her chopsticks scratching the plate.

“No! You’d be part of it, too!” Kara looked aghast at the thought.

“Oh.”  
“And we can decorate and bake cookies!” Kara prattled on about things they could do to celebrate and all the food they could eat.

Lena rested her chin on her hands and listened, picturing a family Christmas.


	4. A Little Bit of History

“Lena, you don’t need latex gloves to change a baby.” Kara sighed and leaned over the handle of their shopping cart.

They had had a busy day. After settling on an apartment surprisingly fast, Lena had insisted that they go shopping for everything they could possibly need, but it was honestly like Lena had never taken care of a baby in her life and Kara voiced so.

Lena shifted uncomfortably, playing with the box of gloves in her hands.

“Oh, Rao, you really never have, have you?”

“I was the youngest and none of the Luthor family acquaintances had children after I was adopted,” Lena said defensively, gripping the box tighter. “At then I went to boarding school when I was eleven. I was never really around children.”

“Oh.” Kara gently took the box away from Lena and placed it back on the shelf. “Well, I can teach you. I used to help take care of my cousin when he was a baby.” She started pushing their cart away to an aisle labelled “Baby Care” on the other side of the store.

“I thought Clark was older than you,” she said curiously as she followed Kara.

“What? No! Clark isn’t my cousin –“

“Kara, he was Lex’s best friend, I know who he is.” She waved off Kara’s worry.

“Oh,” Kara replied dumbly. _Lena’s smart. Should have seen that coming._ “No, I’m older than him.”

“Really? By how much?” Lena gave Kara a once over, trying to figure out how this young-looking person could be older than a thirty-seven-year-old. Maybe it was a Kryptonian thing? Clark Kent did look young for his age.

“Thirteen years.”

Lena nearly choked on her spit. _No_. There was no way Kara was fifty years old. “That’s impossible. There is no way you’re fifty.”

“Well, no.” Kara fidgeted, pausing her steps now that they were in the baby aisle. “I’m twenty-five.”

“I’m not following.” _Didn’t she just say she’s older?_ Lena watched Kara mumble under her breath

“I was in a stasis for twenty-four years, so I’m basically twenty-five.”

“Were you cryogenically frozen?” She was genuinely interested in how Kara wasn’t fifty. “Was this before or after you arrived here?” They both knew _here_ meant earth.

“Before,” Kara answered. “I don’t remember any of it and I didn’t get any older, so I’m pretty much twenty-five.” She shrugged it off, not liking to think about it often. The amount of lost time always nagged at her, but she was happy with how things were now.

Lena saw the tension in Kara’s shoulders and the small scrunching of her eyebrows so she dropped the subject. Instead, she went to grab the nearest pack of diapers and drop it in the cart.

Kara took it right back out.

“Lena, these are for nine-month-old infants, not newborns,” she explained when Lena frowned.

“I swear I’m actually a competent human,” Lena grumbled. She pushed her jacket sleeves up to her elbows – a nervous tick that she had never been able to get rid of. She turned away from the diapers and pretended to look over baby formula.

“You’re just anxious, Lena,” Kara said, doing her best to comfort the CEO. “You don’t have experience with this and you’re scared. It’s okay to get things wrong.” A small surge of protectiveness took her. It was a side-effect from being married – _not married_ – to Lena. It wasn’t just the protectiveness. There was also an increase in her attention to detail around Lena, though that might be entirely psychological.

“Luthors don’t get things wrong,” Lena muttered harshly. It was quiet, but Kara still picked up on it. She reached out and grabbed Lena’s hand.

“How about we go back to my apartment instead, hm?” Kara offered. “We can get takeout and talk over everything you need to know, yeah? You can research and ask questions to your heart’s content.” Kara hoped that she sounded comforting.

//

The more Lena researched, the more relaxed she became.

The relaxation part came to Lena after five hours of sitting on the couch, laptop resting on her thighs and feet tucked underneath her. Kara was dozing on the couch next to her with her head resting on an arm rest and a leg behind Lena’s back, tucked underneath the blanket that had been left there that morning..

After extensive research, Lena felt like she had the basics down on how to take care of a newborn. She considered it the basics, anyone else would consider her a qualified caretaker. She had also put in several orders for everything she thought was necessary for the baby. Diapers, formula, crib, baby monitors, changing station, diaper genie, clothing and bibs, yellow light lightbulb… maybe it was beyond necessary, but she read that yellow light was better for helping regulate sleep.

She took a deep breath and let the stress leave her shoulders. She caught the time just as she closed Kara’s laptop.

_1:48 am_

It was time for sleep if she wanted to be awake for her meetings tomorrow. She moved to get off the couch but was stopped by fingers curling around her wrist.

“I have to go home, Kara,” she whispered, though she made no move to take away her wrist. “I need to sleep.”

“Sleep here,” Kara mumbled. Her eyes were only partially open and her fingers were only loosely wrapped around Lena’s wrist.

“Kara, I need my clothes for work.”

“You have that closet in your office.” Kara let go of Lena’s wrist and tapped the side of her own face. “X-ray vision.”

Lena rolled her eyes and relented.

Kara sat up on the couch and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before speeding off and coming back changed into pajamas and depositing a set of pajamas on Lena’s lap. Kara trotted off to the bathroom with Lena at her heels. They brushed their teeth together before Kara ducked out so Lena could change.

By the time Lena had finished changing, Kara was already asleep and the blanket that had been on the couch was spread across the side of the bed Kara wasn’t occupying. The lights throughout the apartment were off except for the lamp on the bedside table of what was currently Lena’s side of the bed. Lena briefly noted that Kara had plugged in their phones and she wondered how Kara had a compatible charger for her phone when they had different makes.

Lena turned off the lamp and slid under the covers silently. A still sleeping Kara moved so that her arm was wrapped around the brunette’s waist.

Sleep came easily to Lena for the second time in a long time.

//

//

//

A week later, Kara spent nearly all her free time by the incubator or helping get things ready for the apartment and baby. She still hadn’t informed the DEO nor had she called Eliza about the baby and Alex had taken to showing up to the lab to urge her to do so.

“You have to tell them eventually,” Alex said for the nth time that hour. She and Kara were leaned against the incubator. The office chairs Lena and Kara had used before were replaced with several throw pillows that Kara would deny having stolen from nearby lounges. Lena was several floors up in some meeting but the sisters’ work day was over. “The DEO and Mom need to check it over. So many things can go wrong from mixing two species.” She wanted to yell and make a point to Kara, but she had gotten kicked out of the lab last time she had done so with a “you’re scaring the baby”.

“ _Her_ ,” Kara said sharply.

“What?”

“You said _it_. She’s a _her_.” Kara was on the offensive. It wasn’t a rare sight but it was rarely if ever directed at Alex.

“Sorry.”  And she was. She didn’t mean any offense by it, but babies and children had always been an abstract concept to Alex since she never had to spend an extended amount of time with them. Kara hummed an acknowledgement.

“Can you cross reference Elena’s DNA with mine and Lena’s?” Kara finally asked after a terse moment of silence.

“Sure, but why?”

“Kryptonians are encoded with a… sense of purpose, when they’re created,” Kara explained. “The only one who wasn’t was Kal because he was a natural birth. If Elena is directly fifty-fifty me and Lena, then Lillian Luthor didn’t alter her DNA and she most likely has the same encoding I do.”

Alex nodded. Sometimes she forgot Kara was born differently. Like, completely differently. In addition to Kara’s knack for language, as evidenced by her prowess in English and languages beyond earth, Kara was beyond gifted in math and the sciences by earth standards.

“What encoding did you have?”

“Between my mother’s and my father’s houses, I was encoded to be a scientist and warrior until I was sent to earth.” Kara looked up at the ceiling, but Alex could tell that the ceiling wasn’t what she was really looking at.

“Until you were sent to earth?”

“After that, I had an additional encoding to be a protector of earth and my family, but that wasn’t completely integrated into my DNA.”

Alex looked at Kara with concern. She knew her little sister never really talked about Krypton, at least not after her first year on earth. The alien tended to bury her feelings until they started overflowing. There was anger underneath the happy-go-lucky façade, the red kryptonite had been evidence of that, and, if it were possible, Alex would strongly suggest Kara go to a therapist.

“Hey, no more thinking, okay?” Alex whispered. She pulled Kara into the tightest hug she possibly could. “Just hugging, no thinking.”

That was the sight that Lena walked in on an hour later, carrying enough takeout for an entire household.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a slut for creative input and encouragement.


	5. Finished Preparations

They had finished eating and Kara was dozing, draped on the incubator and glasses resting in her hand, while Lena and Alex were working on their respective things.

Alex was next door in a lab Lena had given her limited access to so that she could extract DNA profiles from Lena and the baby so that she could run a comparison test back at the DEO. She didn’t say so explicitly, but she had the sneaking suspicion that Lena knew.

Lena herself was working on the less fun project of paperwork and planning regarding the alien detection device. She still stood by her belief regarding the device, but she was wary now that her own child wasn’t entirely human and the risks of the alien detection device were suddenly more real and less hypothetical. She thought about modifying it so that it could be used to masquerade more easily as a human but the risks of that also weighed heavily on her mind.

She had been working for an hour straight on her laptop until she let her mind wander to the other parent of her child. Kara was asleep against the incubator, having fallen asleep while singing lullabies and talking about her day in a language Lena hoped to one day understand, and Lena was leaning against the incubator next to her.

 _What had Kara been like as a child?_ Lena wondered. She swallowed the thought of what kind of genetics she was passing on herself and forced herself to think about what they _did_ know they were passing on. Intellect, physical appearance, and the health issues that could be detected through genetic testing was the extent of what she knew she was passing on to her child. But Kara? Kara knew so much more about her biological family than Lena would ever know about her own.

Kara had an entire _world_ to pass on to their child. Clark Kent came to earth as a baby, but Kara was from Krypton, had actually experienced this entire world and possibly others. Lena couldn’t even begin imagine what kind of weight it must be to carry a world on a single pair of shoulders. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to withstand the pressure of wanting to pass the world onto another pair of much smaller shoulders.

Her mind drifted again.

How would they raise Elena? Would it be like raising baby Hercules – this ridiculous strong being who was as dangerous as a venomous baby snake? Or would it be like raising a normal baby? She had seen Clark around before he became Superman and he had seemed normal, but maybe he had already learned control by the time that she had met him. Would Kara have experience with a superpowered baby? Did they have powers back on Krypton?

How different were their ways of raising a child? Her mind whirred with so many questions that she wanted to ask and no one to answer them.

“What are you thinking about?” Lena was pulled out of her reverie by Alex dropping down in front of her, eyes glued to the tablet in her hands. “You look like you’re constipated.”

“Why does Kara love potstickers so much?” is the first question Lena asked. She doesn’t know why, but it seemed important. Alex looked thoughtful, much more so than Lena was expecting.

“It was the only thing she would eat when she first came here,” Alex began. Lena nodded but Alex motioned that she had more to say. “We got takeout from this shitty fake Chinese place that doused everything in MSG and she said that something about that and the filling reminded her of her mom’s favorite food on Krypton.”

Alex sighed. She struggled to figure out what she wanted to say.

“She doesn’t talk about it much,” she said eventually. “Krypton, I mean.”

Lena didn’t know what to say and stared at her laptop, unseeing.

“She needs to, though,” Alex eventually continued, finally making eye contact with Lena. Lena nodded and Alex returned a barely noticeable one in recognition. “She’s been… alone. Alone for so long, even if I’m there and Mom’s there with her… It’s not the same. Superman isn’t as well-versed in their culture and just… just know that teaching her baby about their culture is going to be a really big thing, okay?”

“I understand.” And she did. If she could pass on her own culture, she would. She would pass on something other than the Luthor legacy. “I understand,” she repeated.

“She has nightmares, about everything from before she came here.” Lena noticed how Alex tended to only vaguely refer to things if possible, how she said _here_ instead of _earth_. She didn’t have much time to contemplate before the agent continued. “She says she doesn’t remember it, like it’s a fading dream, but she has nightmares all the time.”

“All the time? I’ve never noticed.”

“She hasn’t been calling me since you two started sharing a bed, and for once that isn’t a euphemism.” A smile tugged on Alex’s lips.

More silence. Alex dropped her eyes back down.

“How does she do it?” Lena finally asked.

“Do what?”

“Hold the weight of the world on her shoulders and not crack.” Lena said it like it’s nothing, but it was _everything_.

“She cracks all the time, she just doesn’t let anyone see it.” It was a solemn statement.

It was late, they both knew that it was so late.

“Why are you telling me these things?”  _Why are you trusting me_ was the real unasked question and they both knew it.

“Because I know family means something to you,” Alex answered easily. “Because Kara told me about how you tried so hard to believe in the good in your family and you’re part of our family now. It’s time someone believes in the good in you.”

Lena smiled. “Kara always believed in the good in me.”

“Yeah. Yeah, she did. She’s good like that.”

That sat in comfortable silence for a beat.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For believing in me, too.”

//

The next two weeks were hectic as Lena and Kara started and finished preparations for their apartment and the baby. Kara had, at some point, spent hours interrogating her mother’s hologram about how to take care of a Kryptonian baby and how to take care of them on earth while Lena had handled moving arrangements.

Everything was moved from Kara’s apartment to the new one and Alex had created hospital records indicated that Lena was pregnant. Nearly everything in Lena’s apartment remained where it was, just in case.

Lena took Alex’s suggestion of taking maternity leave immediately until the end of February to make it look like she had a baby, but she’d still maintain her company from home. Meanwhile, Kara would take holiday leave starting the day before the baby was due and planned to take her stocked up sick days to stay home until the beginning of February, saving a week’s worth of time in case of power depletion or the baby. She planned on calling Cat Grant about maternity leave but hadn’t had the time to and made a note to herself to call during her lunch break the next day.

They had decided to use Kara’s old bed for the guest bedroom and Lena had purchased a king-sized bed for their own room. They split the closet space and the bathroom, which, thankfully, had a double sink. They slept together nearly every night of the week, but had done nothing more.

Kara had placed a simple desk in their shared workroom while Lena had taken up the rest of the space with gadgets and tools. Despite how much she had, Lena was quick to organize it all. The same could not be said for the nursery.

Lena had bought _so many things_. _So many._ And they were still rearranging it five days before Christmas and two days before the baby was going to be born and Alex wasn’t there to help because she was on a date of her own with a certain detective.

“Why did we need a _baby desk?”_ Kara asked as she placed it where Lena had designated the best place. “She’s a _baby, she can’t even sit.”_

“But she’ll be able to in the future!” Lena defended.

“Then I can do that thing to make the crib into a desk and get them a bed!” Kara shouted over her shoulder as she pushed the crib into place.

“You can do that?” Tech was something Lena could work with. Woodwork? Not so much.

“I’m good with my hands.” Kara went to pick up the diaper changing station.

Lena was certain Kara didn’t mean that as a euphemism, but she couldn’t help some thoughts that sprung up. Which reminded her something.

“Do you want to go on a date tonight, after we’re done?”

Kara dropped the diaper changing station into place. She suddenly disappeared and Lena panicked even though she knew Kara wasn’t going to abandon her. Where would she go? They _live_ together. Three seconds later, Kara had moved everything into place according to Lena’s most recent furniture plan and she stopped in front of Lena.

“Done.” Kara grinned.

“Someone’s eager,” Lena teased.

“I won’t insult you by denying it.”

Lena shook her head good-naturedly. “We still need to shower.”

Kara pouted but acquiesced. Lena showered in the master bathroom connected to their room and Kara showered in the bathroom in the hallway.

Lena waited in the, in her opinion, overly decorated living room, fully dressed. For having superspeed, Kara took long showers and Lena took the extra time to appreciate the decorations her resident alien had put up.

A Christmas tree sat in the corner to the side of the fireplace, just far enough away where they wouldn’t have to worry about a fire in case a log was ever burning within the brick enclosure. Garlands hung around the frames of every photo in the room, most of which belonged to Kara. All of which, not most, all.

Before she had time to dwell on it for too long, Kara walked out of the hallway.

“Do you have any plans for tonight, Lena?”

“Not particularly, no.” Suggesting a date had been an impromptu thing on Lena’s part.

“Good, because I do,” Kara chirped, grinning.

They started walking to the door before Kara vanished again and came back with glasses on her face.

“I forgot.”

//

“No! There’s no way that you weren’t popular in school!”

“I’ve told you before, no one else would touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole.” The words were rough, but Lena laughed as they walked through the streets of downtown. “Before you, it was just Morrigan.”

“Can you tell me about her? I know she was your best friend, but what happened?” Kara asked.

“Isn’t that a tad too dark for a first date topic?” She had previously told Kara how her best friend had died, she knew the technically older and younger woman knew how this story would end.

“I’d like to know about the woman who was important enough for our daughter to be named after her.”

Fair enough.

Lena talked and talked until they made it to the door of the restaurant Kara had picked out. She talked about how, even before Lex, people didn’t want to be friends with a Luthor. Acquaintances? Sure, but not actual friends, except Morrigan, who sat with her during lunch and in the library. Morrigan, who sat next to her hospital bed every day that one time she broke her arm so badly, it almost came out of her arm. Morrigan, who went through chemotherapy with Lena holding her hand every single second of it. Morrigan, who lost the fight just a week before they were meant to graduate together. And Morrigan, who Lena was determined to have live on through her daughter.

It wasn’t heavy, after all. It was relieving, if nothing else, to talk to someone about her long departed best friend that didn’t have to be paid to listen. For once, it was Lena who rambled through their time together rather than Kara, who was genuinely attentive and asked questions that Lena was more than happy to answer.

They were halfway through dinner at a Mexican restaurant when Lena caught herself.

“I’m sorry, I should stop rambling now,” she said. “I’ve dominated this entire conversation.”

Kara just smiled. “It’s okay to ramble. I want to know about you.”

Lena stared down at her hands, pink dusting her cheeks. “No one’s really listened before.”

“Well, I’m here to listen now. And in the future.”

//

The date was a success by Kara’s standards. Meaning her date showed up and she didn’t have to leave partway through, courtesy of J’onn being on call. It was also a success by Lena’s standards, which were barely any higher.

They had ended up walking home together with their fingers interlaced instead of tucked into their respective jacket pockets, walking in a comfortable silence. Lena started shivering from the late night cold when they were still a block away from their apartment.

“Here, take my jacket,” Kara offered as she shrugged said jacket off. Seeing Lena begin to protest, she continued, “I’m not bothered by temperature.”

“Thank you,” Lena said as she shrugged on the warmed jacket. She took Kara’s hand back in hers. “Will you tell me about your life, from before?”

“From before?”

“Before everything happened and you came here.”

They were silent again until they were at the door of their apartment. They were settled on the couch before Kara finally spoke.

“My best friend was my aunt, Astra.” Her voice was low and shaky and her eyes were unfocused. “She… she was there for me through everything and then… she just stopped showing up for a while.”

“Why?” Lena turned to face Kara and held her hands. She gently rubbed circles onto the back of Kara’s hand.

“She… she did some bad things. I didn’t know at the time, but she did some really bad things and she did bad things here on earth, too.”

“She was on earth?”

“I didn’t know until recently. And then, um, she was killed recently, too. Last year.” Kara swallowed hard.

“How about we talk about Christmas plans, then?” Lena said quickly, changing the subject. She watched Kara wipe her eyes of unshed tears before perking right up.

“Eliza’s coming here! And Winn! Of course, Alex will be here and I think she’s bringing Maggie, because something about Maggie’s family.”

“Have you told them about the baby?”

Color drained from Kara’s face.

“Kara, they’re coming over here when the baby’s already _born_.”

“It, uh, it slipped my mind? But they can’t be angry at me if I hold our cute little baby in their faces!”

“ _Kara.”_

Kara just grinned sheepishly.

//

The baby was due. _The baby was due_.

Alex confirmed that there was no altered DNA in the baby, just completely hers and Lena’s, and Kara had nearly collapsed from relief, much to Lena’s confusion until Alex explained what was happening. Lena wanted to ask Kara why she never mentioned the possibility, but she could think of a few reasons why on her own.

Kara paced around the room while Alex set up a table for the delivery. A stack of towels and a tub of warm water sat on one side of the table and medical tools sat on the other.

“Kara, stop pacing!” Alex shouted. She pointed to Lena, who was next to the incubator. “You’re making _her_ anxious, too.”

“Sorry.” She walked over to the incubator and placed her palm against the glass of the window. “I can’t believe I’m going to have a baby.”

Lena only nodded in response. She was doing her best to take deep, slow breaths but she was _having a baby_.

“I can’t believe it, you’re basically a baby yourself, Kara,” Alex teased. She stepped away from the completed table arrangement. “Now how about we crack this thing open?”

Lena and Kara took one more deep breath before they nodded in sync. They were going to have a baby. A _baby._ _Oh my god._

“You ready?” Kara asked. She grabbed Lena’s hand and squeezed.

“I don’t think I have a choice in the matter.”

Lena pressed a few buttons on the incubator and the glass window slid open. The liquid inside was undisturbed.

Kara reached in to take out the baby. Alex would have done it, but she and Lena had no idea what the fluid would do to non-Kryptonians. As soon as the baby’s face broke the surface of the liquid, she started crying.

“Hush, hush, sweetheart,” Kara cooed. She gently placed the baby onto the bed of towels Alex had laid down. She grabbed another towel and wiped away the fluid from the baby as lightly as she could. After she was done, Alex took over.

Alex let Lena cut the baby’s umbilical cord – if it could be called that – and made sure that everything was right so that she wouldn’t be plagued by an outtie bellybutton. She checked over the baby to make sure that all reflexes were working fine. Once she gave the all clear, Kara swaddled the baby and picked her up, gently swaying back and forth to calm the still crying baby.

“Elena, it’s okay, it’s okay, baby.” Kara whispered. “I’m your mama.” She moved so that Elena was almost sandwiched between her and Lena. “This is your other mama.”

“C-can I?” Lena gestured to Elena.

“Support her neck, okay?” Kara placed Elena in Lena’s waiting arms, gently repositioning her arms to hold the baby properly.

Elena squirmed in her arms and Lena almost pushed her back towards Kara. Kara wrapped her arms around Lena from behind and moved the arm supporting Elena’s head a little higher and she stopped squirming.

“You’ve got this, Lena,” Kara assured.

Alex left the completed birth certificate and other forms on the table and slipped outside, leaving Kara and Lena to their moment.


	6. Happy Holidays

“Kara, did _you_ shit this much?” Lena asked as she wiped Elena’s smooth butt. Technically, most of Elena is smooth. She had little sprouts of light brown hair and her eyes were a light blue, but she was too little for them to tell if it would stay looking like Kara’s or darken into Lena’s. Either way, Lena thought Elena Morrigan Danvers – only Danvers, no more Luthor – was the most beautiful being in the universe.

“ _Language_.” Kara glared at Lena. Kara threw the used diaper into the diaper genie and tied up the full bag.

“She’s two days old, she won’t remember.” Lena rolled her eyes. She was still wiping Elena’s butt.

“She’s of the House of El, she _might_.” Kara left the room and Lena listened for the sound of the door closing. Kara’s footsteps faded away while Lena powdered Elena and finished changing her diaper. By the time Kara came back, Lena already had Elena in a onesie and had just finished slipping her tiny hands into equally tiny mittens. Thankfully, Elena didn’t have powers or they hadn’t manifested themselves yet or taking care of her would be a much more difficult task.

“Before you ask, yes I put lotion on her rash,” Lena said when Kara came up from behind and wrapped an arm around her waist. “And you never answered my question, did you _poop_ this much?”

“All babies do, Lena. I don’t anymore, though.” Kara let go of Lena’s waist and picked up Elena, cradling her to her chest.  “Oh, my little Ellie. So nice and full and clean.”

“Anymore?” Lena asked. She smiled at the scene next to her. Elena gurgled and giggled at Kara’s silly faces.

“I hardly need to poop or pee,” Kara explained. “I metabolize everything as much as possible.”

“Ah.”

They moved to the living room and settled on the couch. Kara kept making cooing sounds and Elena gurgled happily. She whispered words of adoration in English and sometimes Lena could pick up on words in Kryptonian that she was starting to understand. She loved watching her daughter and her… someone play around.

“What are we, Kara?” Lena asked. “We have a baby we’re both parents to, so are we – are we committed?”

“I’m committed to her and you, Lena.” Kara’s voice was solid and she didn’t even bother to stop making faces at Elena.

“No, I mean what are we to each other?” Lena’s voice was decidedly not solid.

“I’m exclusively yours.” The same solid voice.

“So you’re my girlfriend?” She stuttered over the words. Commitment scared her but she was a little too late in this to back out of it, not that she would, not if it was with Kara. Lena still had no idea why her mother had used her DNA but, for all her adoptive family’s psychopathic tendencies, she was grateful for this one thing.

“And more in the future, if you want.” Kara’s voice wavered a little. She looked up from Elena towards Lena.

“Girlfriend for now.”

Kara resumed making silly face and Lena joined. Elena gurgled louder and made squeaky baby laughs. Her arms reached out to touch her mothers’ faces. A few minutes later, her gurgles started to quiet and she started to fall asleep.

Kara got up to place Elena in her crib and Lena followed. They checked the baby monitor and hung around until they were sure Elena was asleep before they headed to their own room. They had fallen into a pattern of changing in the room together with their backs turned to each other. It was easier than having to go to the bathroom each time.

The charged their phones and crawled into bed together. The fell into each other, Lena’s back tucked into Kara’s front just like every other night before. Kara traced featherlight patterns onto Lena’s arm.

“You know, we do all these things, but we haven’t even kissed yet,” Lena mumbled half-asleep, eyes already closed. “Have a baby, live together, share a bed.”

“Do you want me to kiss you?” Kara asked, equally half-asleep.

“I think kissing your girlfriend is appropriate.”

Lena felt herself be turned around and Kara’s nose nudge hers. Soft lips touched hers. Their lips moved languidly, barely parting against each other. Kara wrapped an arm around Lena’s waist and Lena let a hand rest on Kara’s hip. Minutes later, they were asleep.

//

“Lena, you’re shaking.” Kara put a hand on Lena’s leg while the other arm snaked around Lena’s Christmas sweater-deck back. “Lena, you’ve been shaking your leg nonstop since we sat down. I know Ellie loves it, but _stop_. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“I’m meeting your family all at once and we’re telling them we had a _baby together_ ,” Lena argued. “I have more than enough right to be _terrified._ ”

“The worst of the worse was Alex and she’s okay. You’ll be okay,” Kara assured her. If anything, they’d yell at _her_ for not telling them anything for the last few days. Winn was none the wiser, thanks to Alex covering for her and Kara using the time off from CatCo to cover her superhero responsibilities.

Before Kara could calm Lena down more, a knock at the door sent her spiraling.

“Oh my god, she’s here, Kara,” Lena harshly whispered. She clutched Elena a little tighter in her arms.

“Lena, you’re the one who said not to live in fear.” Kara got up and opened the door. “Eliza!”

“Kara!” Eliza pulled Kara into a tight hug after she pushed her luggage case fully into the apartment. “How did you ever afford this place? It’s so much bigger than your old apartment and you have a _spare room?_ ”

“Well, actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Kara said nervously. She stepped aside so Lena came into Eliza’s view. “This is Lena.”

“Lena?” Eliza asked. Lena gave her one nod. “It’s nice to meet you, Lena. I’ve heard… very little about you.”

“Well, right, so this is Lena,” Kara rushed to continue. “And this,” she said, pulling Eliza over so that she could see the front of the couch, “is our baby, Elena.”

“’ _Our’_?” Eliza asked. She gave Kara a hard stare. “Explain.”

Kara let go of the breath she didn’t entirely realize she was holding. _Okay, the worst part was over._

Kara moved the luggage case into the spare room before she and Lena worked together to explain how they had ended up in this situation. Eliza sat down on the opposing couch while she listened to them. Her face didn’t betray her emotions.

“And now we have little Elena,” Kara finished. She made a little waving motion with Elena’s hand.

“You could have told me before, Kara.” Eliza doesn’t look upset. At least, not very upset. She looked disappointed more than anything. “I would have liked to have been there the day my first grandchild was born.”

“Sorry, I just didn’t know how you’d react to all of this and I know you take Clark’s side when it comes to the Luthors -“

“It’s okay, honey, but how are you going to tell Clark?”

“I was still thinking on that.” Kara squirmed in her seat at the thought.

“You better think fast, remember you invited him? He’s going to be here in a few minutes.”

“Oh Rao, I forgot. Who else did I forget I invited.” Kara leaned her head back against the couch. Her stomach jumped into her throat when there was another knock on the door. “Please don’t be Clark.”

It wasn’t Clark.

“Alex, Maggie!” Kara greeted. She pulled the two of them into a hug.  “I told Eliza,” Kara whispered into Alex’s ear.

“Oh thank god, I thought I was going to have to do it,” Alex sighed. “Now where’s my little girl?” She broke out of the hug and walked over to the couch, plopping herself down next to Lena. “How’s my favorite girl?” She made grabbing motions with her hands.

“Here,” Lena said, handing her daughter over to her girlfriend’s sister. Alex’s face lit up with glee as she held Elena in her arms.

“I never thought I’d see Alex with a baby,” Eliza said from the other couch. “And not even a greeting, Alexandra?”

“Hi, mom,” Alex replied sheepishly. She got up and moved to sit next to her mom. “Say hi to your grandma, Ellie.”

Maggie sat down on the other side of Alex and Kara returned to her seat next to Lena. Elena babbled while the women around her fawned over her.

“You two made a cute kid,” Maggie said, fingers still wiggling in front of Elena’s face.

“She’s like the little sister I never had,” Alex teased. She’s met with an indignant “Hey!” and Eliza swatted her arm.

“Be nice to your sister,” Eliza admonished. Alex rolled her eyes. “Now I believe it’s my turn to hold my grandchild.”

Alex reluctantly handed Elena over.

“You can hold me if it makes you feel better,” Maggie offered.

When Elena stopped squirming, Eliza turned her attention to Lena and Kara, who had gotten very quiet since Alex and Maggie arrived.

“So Lena,” Eliza started. “Now that you have a child with _my_ child, do you plan on making an honest woman of my Kara?”

Lena was sure she knew why Eliza brought it up. Eliza raised Kara, how could she not know that part of Kara’s native culture?

“Eventually,” Lena answered. “We’re working up to it.”

“Can you at least convince her to get a car? It doesn’t have to be a family car, but I’d feel much safer if she at least had a car.” There was a pleading look in Eliza’s eyes that Lena didn’t really understand.

“Does she not have a car? How does she get around?”

“With her screaming metal death trap,” Eliza answered easily, if brusquely.

“Eliza, a motorcycle is not a screaming metal death trap,” Kara interjected. “I can’t get hurt on it.”

“You ride a motorcycle?” Lena asked. She hadn’t known about that. She kind of liked it. A lot. _A lot_ , a lot. But only because she knew Kara couldn’t get while on it.

“Alex learned how to when we were younger so I wanted to learn, too.” Kara just shrugged in response.

“She copied everything I did until she graduated college,” Alex added.

Conversation was interrupted by another knock.

It was Clark.

“Cousin!” Clark pulled Kara into a hug as soon as she opened the door. She pulled him into an even tighter one and he let out a groan but patted her back affectionately. “I’ve missed you. Is everyone here?”

“No, Winn isn’t here yet and J’onn wasn’t up to it,” Kara said.

“That’s too bad, I’ve missed him. Oh, who had a baby? Congratulations – is that Lena Luthor?” He doesn’t sound angry – _yet_ , Kara thought – but more surprised. “What is she doing here?”

“Clark, later,” Kara said quickly, already hooking her arm into his and pulling him further into the apartment. Everyone looked at them with concern and Kara waved Lena over to follow them.

Clark waited for her to close to door to the workroom – the first room in the hallway – before telling her to explain. So she did while Lena awkward hung behind her. Clark spent the first couple minutes glaring at the resident Luthor until Kara punched him in the ribs. Lena relaxed a little when he fixed his eyes onto Kara but shrank further into the background.

“So you’re going to raise a child with a _Luthor_?” Clark asked accusingly. “Have you thought this through?”

“My daughter is _hers_ , too, Clark,” Kara snapped back. “We have a baby and you know what that means.”

“You’re on earth now, Kara, not Krypton, it doesn’t have to be that way!”

“That doesn’t matter! We have a child! I have a _family_ , Clark. I have a _family_. I’m not going to let you take this away from me!”

“You’ve always had family! You have me!”

“You left me! You left me with people I didn’t even know and I only got to see you maybe twice a year! I still only really get to see you twice a year!”

Clark faltered. “You know I only wanted the best for you,” he continued more quietly. “Everything worked out.”

“What was best for me was being with someone I knew and that was _you_.” Kara wasn’t going to relent. She had bottled it up for too long and it was finally coming out. “Did you even know how they felt about having another child? Did you even _ask_? Alex hated me at first! _Hated_ me. And she still feels terrible about everything _to this day_. Did you even _think_ about that? My own blood family abandoned me with people I didn’t even know and one of them _loathed_ having me there and made me aware of that _every single day_ and you didn’t even _think_ about how me or the Danvers felt about _any of this_. You just decided that _you_ knew better and you’re doing that _right_ _now_ without caring how it affects everyone else.”

She glared at him, daring him to respond.

“You took away my family then, but you’re _not_ taking them away now. Don’t you _dare_ do that now.” Kara huffed and felt the hot tears on her face. She took a deep breath and let the rest of her anger drain out of her. “You’re Kryptonian, Clark, but not really. You know that. You don’t know the holidays or rituals or _anything_ about and I – and I can’t be the only one anymore Clark, I can’t.”

Kara slumped forward and sobbed into Clark’s chest. He pulled her into a hug and held her tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m sorry, Kara.” He looked up and waved Lena over. “You’re a part of the family now, come here.” Lena shuffled closer and Clark pulled her into the hug.

They didn’t talk while they waited for Kara’s tears and hiccups to subside. Lena pried away to grab the box of tissues from Kara’s desk and Clark gently pushed Kara away so that she could wipe her face. She took the tissue Lena offered and dabbed at her eyes. A few minutes later, there were no more tears and her face was no longer red.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked softly. “We can stay in here for longer, if you want.”

“No, I’m okay,” Kara said, shaking her head. “We should go back out.”

Kara made her way to the door and Lena made to follow until Clark grabbed her arm, just a little tightly.

“Lena Luthor, you’re a smart person,” he said. “You don’t need me to tell you what will happen if you hurt her or the baby.”

Lena nodded. “It’s not going to happen.”

“Has she told you about the cultural implications for her?” He didn’t push in case Kara didn’t. It wasn’t his place to say.

“She has,” Lena answered curtly.

“And what do you plan on doing about it?” He was still vague just in case. It was a habit he had from being a reporter.

“Are you asking me if I am going to marry her?”

“That depends on you answer.”

“I want to. Eventually. Not right at this moment, but eventually.”

“I understand.” Lena made to pull away, but Clark pulled her back with minimal force. “I doubt she’s told you this – my cousin is selfless if nothing else – but, she will only be seeing you for the rest of her life. She won’t be interested in anyone else and if _you_ are, it will break her heart.”

“Mr. Kent, even before this, I had feelings for Kara.” She didn’t want to completely guarantee it, but she hoped that one day she could. “Let’s join the rest of the group, shall we?”

When they got back to the living room, there was one more person. Everyone seemed to be crowded around Elena, who was still being held by Eliza, though it seemed like Alex was putting up a hell of a fight for her. Kara was sitting next to Eliza, displacing Maggie, and Elena’s hand was wrapped around one of her fingers.

“Who’s this little cutie?” Winn asked, not looking away from Elena. He was kneeling in front of Eliza and moving his fingers back and forth in front of Elena’s face. “I already love her, but whose kid is she?”

Everyone looked at Kara and Kara looked at Lena.

“Guys?” Winn asked again.

“She, uh, she’s mine, Winn,” Kara answered.

“No, seriously, whose kid is she?”

“Really, Winn. She’s mine,” Kara repeated more firmly.

“And mine,” Lena added.

“What?” Winn wobbled on his knees when he turned and saw her. “Lena Luthor?” He turned to look at Kara. “What?” he repeated.

“Uh, yeah.” Kara fidgeted under his stare. “About that.”

And then Kara and Lena launched into it again. Maggie also listened avidly, only getting the basics from Alex. Lena paused when they were explaining why Lillian Luthor used Kara but she waved them off, stating that she knew about the whole Supergirl thing, and they continued.

“But why?” Winn asked at the end. “I can see why she would want to use Kara’s biologicals, but why Lena’s?”

“I’ve been looking into it, but the only thing I could come up with was emotional attachment.” Lena hadn’t been able to find any documentation regarding the _why_. It was never Lillian’s concern.

“Well, it’s the holidays and we can think about it tomorrow,” he dismissed. “It’s time for cookies, movies, and Eliza’s famous chocolate pecan pie!”

“And dinner,” Kara chimed in. “Don’t forget dinner!”

//

Lena was very confused. This was the first experience of a real Christmas that she had ever had. Maybe once upon a time, her birth parents had celebrated with her, but the Luthors hadn’t really. Except Lex. But she didn’t want to think about that right now.

Everyone had eaten cookies while Eliza and Maggie cooked. Lena was surprised no one else had helped cook and were taking turns taking care of Elena instead – to the point where Winn had convinced Clark to change a diaper – but, when she asked about the cooking, everyone had burst out laughing.

“The only thing my cousin knows how to make are pancakes and cookies,” Clark laughed while Kara just shrugged in response. He was more at ease with her now. “And Alex? Alex burned water once.”

“Hey!” Alex shouted indignantly. “That was _once_.”

“That should have been a _never_ , Alex,” Winn retorted.

“Hey, you don’t get a say either,” Alex defended. “You live off cold sandwiches and take out!” She glared at Clark. “You live off junk food! So no mockery from that corner.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask something,” Lena cut in before she thought Alex was about to punch someone. “Why are we celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve?”

“Well, we don’t really celebrate Christmas,” Alex answered as everyone else looked at each other. “I mean, Clark does, but the rest of us don’t.”

“Really?”

“Eliza is Jewish and Alex is sort of Jewish. I’m from Krypton. Winn doesn’t care,” Kara said. “We all have some time off, but it doesn’t overlap usually. Usually it’s just the one day so we spend that day together. Last year it was the 27th and the year before that, it was the 26th.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Eliza called from the kitchen.

Everyone got up and made their way over to the large dining that was almost overflowing with food, some of which Lena didn’t recognize. There was also a takeout box of potstickers.

“Take a seat, take a seat everyone!”

Everyone followed Eliza’s orders. Elena was still too little to use a highchair, so Lena and Winn took turns holding her and eating. Winn wouldn’t let Kara hold her while eating “in case she ate Elena, too.” Alex and Maggie sat across from the trio while Clark and Eliza sat on the ends.

Dinner was nice and easy. Everyone ate until they were stuffed and, between Kara and Clark, there were no leftovers. Lena found herself in love with latkes. While everyone else was pulling out of their food comas, Alex and Eliza left to light the first candle.

When they came back, everyone dragged themselves back over to the living room to watch movies until they digested enough to eat dessert. They gave Clark _one_ Christmas movie. Only one. This year, he picked _Frosty the Snowman_. Afterwards, Alex played _A Rugrats Chanukah_. With holiday-related movies over, Lena was given the honor of picking the next movie – if it wasn’t holiday themed. She picked _Tangled_ , for the lanterns that she knew Kara loved. Maggie chose _The Avengers_ afterwards.

By the time the credits rolled, everyone was asleep except for Lena and Eliza. Kara was leaned back against the couch and Alex was pushed against her, having been pushed to the side by Maggie’s weight on her shoulder. Eliza was sitting on one corner of the other couch and Winn was asleep on the opposite end. Clark was sitting on the floor with his head slumped on the coffee table.

“I think it’s time for us to head to bed,” Eliza stretched and yawned. She walked over to Lena and took Elena out of her arms. “I’ll take this baby to sleep and you take that baby,” she said, pointing to Kara.

Lena nodded and rubbed her eyes before she stood up and pulled Kara along with her. Alex and Maggie slumped onto the couch on top of each other. Kara shuffled along slowly beside Lena as they made their way to bed. She made little grumbling noises as she moved along

“Come on, Kara,” Lena gently urged. “Let’s get in bed.”

They sluggishly changed into pajamas before settling into bed. This time, they faced each other rather than spooning. Kara rubbed the tip of her nose against Lena’s.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked hesitantly. Instead of answering, Lena moved closer and pressed her lips against Kara’s. She felt Kara smile against her.

They were too tired to keep kissing and fell asleep against each other.


	7. Christmas Sort Of

Kara was woken up by the sound crying. She rolled out of bed and looked by at Lena while she walked out of their bedroom. Thankfully, Lena was still asleep.

Kara padded down the hallway to the nursery and quietly opened the door. She only opened it a little before she saw Alex already in the room, gently rocking Elena. She stayed behind the door. Alex made hushing noises as soothed Elena. Kara smiled and turned to go back to her room.

Lena had cocooned herself in the blankets while Kara was gone. Kara rolled her eyes and didn’t bother trying to take some back while she crawled into bed. Sleep came quickly.

The next time Kara woke up, she was the one cocooned in blankets and Lena was propped up against the headboard with her laptop.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Lena murmured. She let a hand move down to run her fingers through Kara’s hair but never looked away from her laptop. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Kara mumbled. She pulled the blanket lower on her face so she could see Lena. “What time is it? How long have you been up?”

“It’s seven and not long.” Lena put her laptop aside and wormed her way back to lying down next to Kara. “How’d you sleep?”

“Mhm.” Kara wiggled out of the blanket a little more and sniffed the air. “I think Eliza’s cooking breakfast.” She fought with the blanket until she managed her way out of them and pulled Lena out of the bedroom with her. Kara scanned the nursery on the way to the kitchen. Alex was asleep in an arm chair, Elena safely tucked away in her arms.

“Good morning, dears,” Eliza greeted. She didn’t look up while she slid eggs from the pan into a plate. “Breakfast is almost ready. Can you wake the others?”

“Can you go wake up Alex?” Kara asked. “She’s in the nursery.” Lena nodded and shuffled down the hallway while Kara went to wake everyone in the living room.

Clark was long gone. He had left in the middle of the night to be there with Lois and James for Christmas morning, but they were supposed to take a plane to National City together to celebrate New Year’s. Winn and Maggie were still asleep on separate couches.

“Hey, wake up time!” Kara shouted as she pelted both with pillows.

Winn grumbled and tumbled down onto the floor, rubbing his head. He half-heartedly threw the pillow back at Kara. Maggie didn’t even move. Winn got up, still grumbling, and slumped on top of Maggie.

“If I have to be up, you have to be up too.” He grabbed the pillow that Kara had thrown at her and hit her again. Maggie groaned and shoved him off. He slumped off and smacked her again.

“Fine, I’m up, I’m up.” She groaned again and sat up.

Kara helped Winn up and pulled him to the dining table, Maggie stumbling along behind them. Alex was already at the table and feeding Elena. Kara gave Lena a look but she only shrugged in response. Maggie sat down next to Alex, still grumbling and grumpy, but Alex paid no mind. She was completely fixated on the small human in her clutches.

“Alex, can I have my baby back?” Kara asked jokingly.

“I’m still feeding her.” She didn’t even look up. “I’m just doing my part to help with her.”

Kara was not at all convinced, but she let it drop. She still sat down next to Alex, with Lena on her other side, in case Alex became willing to let go of Elena.

Conversation was easy once everyone woke up enough to talk. Winn and Lena talked about recent scientific discoveries. Alex and Kara, who were both adoring Elena, joined in once they started talking about Georgia Tech’s discovery of gravitational waves and proof of black holes.

“One time we passed by one,” Kara said. Everyone stared at her. “What? Why are you all looking at me?”

“You… you passed by one?” Lena asked.

“Yeah! I mean, it’s not entirely common, but my family passed by one when we were visiting a nearby planet’s dignitaries.” Kara shrugged like it was nothing. “I was asleep so I don’t really remember much. Mom said that it just looks really dark. Not that exciting.”

Lena and Winn stared at her.

“Twelve planets?” Lena asked, awed. “What planets were they? What were they like?”

Kara squirmed in her seat and looked down at her lap. Talking about it reminded her of her parents and she wasn’t really up to it this early in the day.

“Maggie, Lena, how did you two find out Kara was Supergirl?” Eliza cut in, recognizing Kara’s nervous ticks.

“Her disguise is a pair of glasses and a ponytail,” Maggie replied easily, seeing the segue for what it was. “People don’t really equate sunshine-y little Danvers with the confident and imposing Supergirl and, honestly, it could have worked if she hadn’t been giving me this “murder” look when we first met.”

“Are we talking about the same Kara?” Eliza joked. “I didn’t know she was capable of any type of negative look after she went to college!”

“We’re definitely talking about the same Kara!” Maggie laughed. “To be fair, she was just looking out for Alex.”

“Oh, you’re the girl they told me about!” Maggie smiled sheepishly as Eliza turned her attention to Lena. “Now what about you, dear?”

“Uh.” Lena was not prepared for this.

“No need to be shy, we know Kara isn’t the sneaky type.”

“Hey!” Kara shouted indignantly. Elena squirmed at the loudness and Alex smacked Kara on the arm. In quieter voice, Kara continued, “I can be sneaky.”  
“No, you can’t,” resounded around the table. Kara pouted.

Eliza turned back to Lena. “Did you realize it or did she tell you?”

“Wait,” Alex cut in. “Did Kara rip off her shirt again? Or jump off a building? I told her not to do that anymore.”

“No. No, she didn’t do that.” Lena really wanted to hide right then. She could feel her cheeks warm under everyone’s stare.

“Why are you embarrassed, Lena?” Eliza asked gently. “Did Kara do something embarrassing?”

“Did she take off her shirt and forget her suit underneath?” Winn joked. Lena reddened at the image. “Oh god, did she actually do that?”

“No!” Kara hissed. “I did _not_.”

“Then why is she so red!”

“I – uh… I really only have one friend,” Lena explained. Her face reddened even further in embarrassment. It really wasn’t something she liked admitting, even if she was used to it. “It’s hard nto to recognize your only friend.”

“Oh.” Everyone looked down, sorry for having pressed the issue.

Maggie reached across Alex and Kara, ending up partially on Alex, and grabbed Lena’s hand. “Well, I’m your friend now, too.”

“Me, too,” Winn chimed in. “It’s nice having someone to talk tech with that doesn’t just focus on weapons.”

“You had a daughter with my daughter. You’re part of the family,” Eliza assured.

Alex just nodded at Lena, not having much more to contribute other than assurance.

“You’ve got us now,” Kara said while she hugged Lena as tightly as she dared. “You’ve got us.”

“Thank you,” Lena whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. She reached up to grab the arm that was wrapped around the front of her shoulders.

It was awkwardly silent for a beat then Elena gurgled loudly and spit up on Alex.

“Alex, you forgot to burp her!” Kara quickly got up and ran off to get some burping rags. Everyone laughed as Alex futilely tried to wipe away the burped-up milk with a napkin.

//

They were eventually able to pry Elena out of Alex’s arm so she and Winn could go to work. Maggie followed them out, blocking Alex from coming back in.

Overtime on Christmas day was good pay.

Kara was editing an article for Snapper on her tablet and attached keyboard while Lena was working on something. Kara wasn’t entirely sure, but it involved electricity and she could sometimes hear a snapping sound behind her. They were able work in mutual silence while Eliza had volunteered to take care of Elena so the new parents could have a small break and do some work in their work room.

Several hours later, Kara finally finished writing her article and editing the others that she had been assigned to peer review. She sent the review articles back and saw that Snapper had just sent back hers for editing. She leaned her head back against her seat and groaned.

“I see you’re having fun,” Lena called from across the room.

“Haha,” Kara laughed sarcastically. She groaned again and resumed typing. “Why did I become a writer?”

“I thought your main reason was to be a reporter?” Kara could hear Lena fiddling around with something.

“I wanted to be a story writer, first.” She didn’t stop editing, not even when she heard the telltale signs of Lena rolling her own chair over to the desk.

“Really?” Kara turned to see Lena, propped up by her elbows on the table, looking at Kara curiously. “What stories did you want to write?”

Kara stopped typing and stared blankly at her screen.

“I wanted to write stories of Krypton,” she finally said. She didn’t look away from her screen and tapped nervously at the bottom edge of her keyboard. “I wanted to keep the traditions and lore and everything that I could alive.”

“Why didn’t you?” Lena rested a hand on Kara’s arm.

“It’s too dangerous to.” Kara clenched her jaw. “I wrote some once. Before I graduated high school.”

“Do you still have them?”

“Alex burned them,” she stated matter-of-factly. Her voice was devoid of emotion, entirely unlike her normal cheery self.

 _Crack_.

Kara’s keyboard had snapped underneath the force of her tapping.

“Well, now I have a reason to give you your Christmas present,” Lena joked, trying to dissolve the palpable emotion in the air.

“You didn’t need to –“  Lena hushed her before getting up and coming back with a rectangular cardboard box in front of Kara.

“You really didn’t –“ Lena hushed her again and gestured to the box.

Tentatively, Kara opened it. She pulled out what looked like a raised breakfast tray but narrower and a rectangular black box. Both were made of cold metal.

“What is this?” she asked, turning over the little cube to inspect it. There was a button on the square side of the box and a lens on one of the sides. She clicked the button and scattered light shot out of the lens.

“It’s a keyboard.” Lena took the tray and laid it in front of Kara and settled the black box in the corner, turning it so it settled into a little slot in the corner of the tray. The scattered turned into a projection of a keyboard. “The tray is made of iron-based memory metal, reinforced by steel.”

“Memory metal?” Kara’s eyebrows scrunched together.

“Press a part of it so it dents.”

“Okay,” Kara said warily. She pressed the ‘g’ key so there was a dent the size of a dime. It took more effort than she thought it would take.

“Now watch.” Lena double-clicked the button on the box so it turned on and off. Kara watched in amazement as the dent fixed itself and the tray flattened out again. “No more breaking keyboards.”

“Oh Rao, this is the best gift _ever_.” She stared at the tray in amazement. “I’m going to save so much from replacing my keyboards!”

“I was going to make you a phone, but I didn’t have enough time.” Lena rubbed her wrists together nervously. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it! Thank you so much!” Kara pulled Lena into an enthusiastic hug. “But I don’t know what to get you, I wasn’t prepared for Christmas.”

“How about you tell me your stories from Krypton?”

“Are you sure?” Kara’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t think stories are a fair trade.”

“They’re worth the world, Kara,” Lena assured. “I’d love to know about that part of you.”

“Okay.” Kara grinned widely, eyes crinkling. It falters a little before coming back full force. “Thank you. For all of this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays! Stay safe, all. Don't drink and drive. Maybe don't drive while high, either. Find a nice playlist to listen to during new year's eve if you don't like fireworks and I hope you all have a great new year!


	8. The One with the New Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going with National City being the one in San Diego County

Kara had just finished and sent her final edits when her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“ _Kara! You have a baby?”_ A familiar voice nearly yelled from the other end. “ _Clark just told me!_ ”

“Hi, Lois.” Kara cringed. Lena, who had migrated back to the other side of the room, looked at her curiously.

“ _Clark and I have been thinking about trying! How did you conceive? Is there something about Kryptonian anatomy I should know about, because I’m relatively certain Lena Luthor is anatomically female.”_  

Okay, so not the line of questioning she expected.

“I – uh. I.” Kara floundered. “We didn’t… _conceive_?”

“ _Oh_.” Kara heard some shuffling on the other side. “ _Do you think we can conceive?”_

“Maybe?” Kara tried to put as much faith into her voice as she could. “We still have the incubator in the lab. We could figure out how to use it,” she offered.

“ _Would Ms. Luthor be all right with that?”_ Some more shuffling.

“We should talk about this more when you’re here, then you can actually see everything.”

“ _Okay, Kara. Will you be picking us up?”_ The shuffling stopped.

“Yeah, Alex said I could borrow her car for the day.”

“ _And here I was, assuming that you’d pick us up with your bike,”_ Lois teased.

“I’m sure you could fit in the side car, but I don’t think Clark could,” Kara joked back. She heard a door slam on the other side of the line.

“ _Well, I have to go now. I’ll see you in a few days, dear.”_

“See you.”

She dropped her phone back down onto her desk after she heard the hang-up tone.

“What was that about?” Lena asked as she rolled over to Kara’s desk, her butt still firmly planted in her chair. “I heard a “we” and “conceive”.”

“Clark and Lois were thinking about having a baby and asked for help,” Kara explained. “You still have Lillian’s files on merging our genetics, but I didn’t want to just offer your help without your permission.”

“I’d be glad to help.” Lena reached out to hold Kara’s hand between both of hers.

Kara lit up and leaned over to give Lena a quick peck. She froze immediately after she pulled away.

“I’m – Sorry, I should have asked!” Kara squeaked.

“It’s okay.” Lena leaned forward and kissed Kara gently. “We’re a little bit dating, remember?”

“Oh.” Kara grinned. “I can kiss you?”

“Mhm.” Lena waited, expecting Kara to kiss her again.

“Will you date with me?” Kara rushed out instead.

“Kara, we’re already dating,” Lena teased. She could feel Kara’s pulse racing in the hand between hers.

“I mean, will you _go_ _on a_ date with me,” Kara corrected, face reddening. “After everyone leaves.”

“Of course.” She felt Kara’s pulse slow. “Now about that kiss.”

Kara leaned in to kiss Lena again. She felt soft lips curl into a smile against her own until they pulled away. At some point, Lena’s hand had travelled further up Kara’s arm and was gently squeezing her bicep.

“How are your lips so soft?” Lena asked.

“Um, thank you?” Kara blushed.

“No, I mean – yes, they are soft, but I meant how are they so soft when bullets don’t affect you?” Lena asked incredulously. “Not that I don’t appreciate both.”

“Alex compared me to non-Newtonian fluid once,” Kara offered in explanation. She took Lena’s hand and used a finger to poke her own cheek to demonstrate before settling their hands back on the desk. “I’m soft when you move softly and harsh when you move harshly. She punched me once when we were younger and almost broke her hand.”

“She punched you?” Lena furrowed her brows. “Why would she do that?” She remembered Kara saying how Alex hated her when they were younger and, while the agent was threatening in her own right, she couldn’t imagine Alex Danvers _abusing_ Kara, not when they loved each other so much right now.

“Oh! No, not like that!” Kara reassured, realizing what Lena thought. She gripped Lena’s hand comfortingly. “Someone was bullying me at school and she swung at him a few times. Her last one missed and she hit me in the shoulder.”

Kara’s stomach gurgled.

“I see it’s no longer time for talking,” Lena laughed. “Come on, let’s get lunch.”

//

After lunch, Kara looked after Elena while Eliza went out to take advantage of sales and pick up groceries. Lena had managed to convince Eliza to at least _bring_ the pre-paid gift card Lena had gifted her while she went out shopping.

Kara gave Elena a bath while Lena finished the last of what she absolutely had to do in the workroom. Eventually, they met each other again on the couch when the only work left for Lena was email correspondence. Kara settled Elena into a baby hammock before seating herself between Elena and Lena.

Kara played Friends on the television, but didn’t pay much attention. She split herself between moving Elena’s legs in a walking motion to help strengthen the developing muscles and completely distracting Lena from her work. The two weren’t mutually exclusive.

Five hours with a feeding session in the middle later, Lena had only gotten about two hours’ worth of work done and it didn’t seem like she was going to get anymore done when Alex and Maggie burst into the living room. Alex pushed open the door, having been given a set of keys for when they needed a babysitter for Elena, and came in touting several bags of takeout. Maggie followed, carrying a stack of baby formula containers.

“Dinner time!” Alex called out, as if everyone that was in the apartment couldn’t see her. She unpacked all the food onto the coffee table and made sure the potstickers were in front of Kara. “I can feed Elena, you go eat first.”

Without giving Kara time to answer – and moving fast enough where Lena briefly contemplated whether Alex was actually of human origin – Alex scooped Elena out of her baby hammock and was already making her way to the kitchen before Kara managed to even begin to argue.

“Aren’t you even going to _ask_ where Eliza is?” Kara finally sputtered out. She hadn’t even moved to grab a box of potstickers in her confusion. Alex paused before turning her head back to Kara.

“Where is she?”

“Shopping.”

“Cool.” Alex continued on her way.

Kara stared at Alex, puzzled, and let her eyes follow her sister’s movements. Elena was carefully tucked against Alex’s front with one arm, neck and body entirely secure, while the free hand tested the water temperature from the tap and prepared a bottle.

Kara was pulled out from her staring by a kiss on her cheek.

“I think your sister is trying to take our child for her own,” Lena joked. She grabbed a box of potstickers off the table and a pair of chopsticks, handing both to Kara. “Come on, eat while Elena eats.”

Soon, Alex joined them and they ate happily. Alex refused to put Elena down, so Maggie and Kara took turns feeding her. Mainly Maggie.

By the time Eliza came back, most of the food had been eaten with a box half filled with fried rice and half filled with lo mein hidden in the fridge by Alex earlier on. Alex finally gave Elena to Maggie while she and Kara went to help Eliza put away groceries.

“Alright, time to go!” Kara shouted when the last of the groceries were put away. She clapped excitedly and started walking to the door, Alex and Eliza closely following her.

“Go where?” Lena asked, bemused. She and Maggie stared at Alex and Eliza, Kara having already gone out the door to… wherever she was going. Alex motioned for Eliza to follow Kara.

“Every year, we drive around on Christmas night to look at all the lights,” she explained.

“I thought you didn’t celebrate Christmas?”

“We don’t, but Krypton had a celebration of lights every year. It makes Kara feel better. Now come on.”

//

 They took Eliza’s rental car.

Eliza drove and Kara sat in the front seat, leaving Alex to sit between Maggie and Lena in the back. Alex held Elena. They sat in silence after Maggie tried to say something and Alex hushed her. Twenty minutes of painfully tense and awkward silence later, Lena finally gave in.

“I thought you said this makes her happier,” Lena whispered into Alex’s ear.

“I said ‘feel better’, there’s a difference,” Alex whispered back. “This is the one time a year where she takes the time to mourn.”

Lena sat back and stared at Kara. Sometimes she forgot what Kara had gone through, how Kara had not just lost her family but her entire world. Everything about her made it easy to forget she wasn’t sunshine and rainbows.

They finished the car ride without any more disturbances.

//

It was the last day of the year and their apartment was filled with people. Not a lot of people, only about a dozen, but that was already a lot more than Lena had ever had over when she was by herself.

Mike of the Interns had been invited, along with the others she already knew Kara had invited. He had been the most accepting of how Lena and Kara had had a baby. Kara said something about how he was from a planet that neighbored hers and Lena assumed that Mike of the Intern’s planet had a similar setup.

Mike, James, Winn, and Kara were fighting each other in Super Smash Bros, something that Winn had setup as soon as he arrived in the apartment. Mike had no idea what he was doing and Winn was losing despite his bragging. Kara was just flying around with Kirby, avoiding everyone to the best of her ability. Finally, Mike officially lost and Maggie took his place. Surprisingly, he decided to take a seat next to Lena.

“Have you decided to – how does Winn say it? Put a ring on it?” Mike asked. Alex reached over from the other side of Lena and smacked him in the arm, careful not to jostle Elena while she did so.

“Mike, no,” Alex said forcefully.

“Why?” He asked, completely confused. “To not marry a Kryptonian that you have a child with? Kara must be dying inside.” Winn had said that if you cared about someone, you’re supposed to look out for their emotional well-being. He was trying to look out for Kara. _When_ would Alex stop _hitting_ him?

“Mike, Lena and I have already talked about this,” Alex hissed. Lena just stared at Mike.

“So they are already married? That is a good thing.” He nodded to himself, happy with the conversation. Alex smacked his arm again, but he ignored it and resumed paying attention to the game.

“Ignore him,” Alex instructed to Lena. “He’s not great with earth traditions.”

“But is he right? Is us not marrying hurting Kara?” Lena said quietly.

“She’s a big girl, Lena,” Alex replied, avoiding the questions. “You don’t need to feel pressured to do anything.”

“But is it _hurting her_?” Lena pressed again. The past month had been the best she could remember and hated to think that she caused pain to Kara in that time.

“She can handle it.” Alex turned her attention back to Elena.

Lena let her eyes drift back to Kara. Kara, who hid everything that had ever hurt her to the point where everyone was convinced she was okay. Lena didn’t want to be another bullet point on the list of things that hurt Kara. But she wasn’t ready to marry someone. She and Kara barely knew each other enough to date, forget marrying each other already.

She wanted to think about it more, but Kara pulled her from the couch to the floor to play against Lucy, her, and Clark and her competitive side came out.

//

It was minutes shy of midnight.

Lucy had been declared the reigning champion of Super Smash and Clark laughed when James demanded a rematch. The food was mostly eaten and the party was winding down. Everyone was just waiting for the countdown.

Everyone had paired off. Everyone was paired with the obvious. Couples were together, then Lucy and James. Winn and Eliza argued over who got to kiss Elena, with Eliza pulling the grandma card and winning, leaving Winn to kiss Mike. Mike was just happy to be a part of this unfamiliar but seemingly pleasant tradition.

Winn changed the channel so the Los Angeles countdown was playing and everyone settled into a seat next to their partner. Kara and Lena were sitting next to each other on the couch, not paying much attention to anyone else.

“Ten.” Kara wrapped an arm around Lena.

“Nine.” Lena leaned into Kara.

“Eight.” They grinned at each other.

“Seven.” Kara mouthed something, but Lena wasn’t sure what.

“Six.” Lena realized she had mouthed “I love you”.

“Five.” Kara’s smile faltered.

“Four.” Lena leaned forward, her nose just touching Kara’s.

“Three.” They kissed. Someone yelled “it’s not time yet!” They didn’t care.

The last two seconds passed and then a few more. Fireworks exploded and Lena almost believed that they were in her head instead of outside her apartment. Finally, they pulled apart.

“Happy new year,” Kara whispered.

Lena thought about Kara, Elena, and the people in her apartment who were, hopefully, her new friends. _Happy new year indeed._


	9. Talks About Sex

_Forward to Mid-April_

It’s been months and so many things had changed and so many things hadn’t.

Things between Lena and Alex had gotten close, to the point where Lena considered her girlfriend’s sister her best friend. Clark had taken to visiting at least every other week to check in on Elena the way that he hadn’t done for Kara.

Sometime in February, Alex had broken one of her legs so badly that she had been in a cast for months and was still on desk duty until further notice. Despite how bad it was and how worried everyone was, Alex was happy enough to be “stuck” with taking care of Elena while Kara and Lena were at work. Thankfully, the little baby hadn’t started exhibiting powers yet (they weren’t even sure she _would_ have powers) and, going by how Clark had developed, she wouldn’t for another decade or more.

Meanwhile, with Kara and Lena’s relationship, it was like it had gotten stagnant and Lena couldn’t figure out _why_ , so she went to the best source other than Kara herself (Kara would get really awkward and stutter and the conversation always got cut short), Alex. Which led to her approaching Alex at the DEO while Kara was off running an interview at one of the local animal shelters. It was the only time where Kara would be too excited and distracted to even accidentally eavesdrop on them.

“Alex?”

“Yeah?” Alex replied, not even looking up from her desk while she bounced Elena on one knee.

“Can I talk to you about something _without_ Elena?” Lena asked.

Alex dropped her pen onto the table and sighed. “I don’t understand why you still think she can remember any of this, she’s not even half a year old yet.”

“Superman’s first memory was his second day on earth, I am not taking any chances.”

Alex just groaned and called Vasquez over to take over Elena duty. A few minutes later, Lena and Alex were settled in a corner of Alex’s lab.

“So what is it?” Alex asked.

“Do you think Kara is straight?” Lena asked, looking Alex dead in the eyes.

Alex stared at her. “Aren’t you, like, a few months into your relationship too late to be asking this?”

“Our relationship started because we had a _baby_ ,” Lena said. “What if she’s just with me because of her customs?”

“Trust me, she’s with you for you,” Alex replied, scoffing. “Customs or no, I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”

Lena didn’t say anything and just grabbed something off Alex’s lab table to fiddle with.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Alex asked. She moved over to Lena and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “What brought this up?”

“Kara isn’t…” Lena floundered and waved her hands around, a nervous gesture that Alex had noticed early on in their friendship. “She isn’t _intimate_ with me,” Lena said in a quiet voice.

“Oh. _Oh._ ”

“Yeah.”

“Have you talked to her about it?”

The look on Lena’s face clearly showed that she tried and the attempt had not ended well.

“Right.” Alex let go of Lena’s shoulder. “So _that’s_ why you asked if she was straight.”

“Yeah.” Lena gulped. “It’s like… It’s like she doesn’t have an interest in me. We’ve kissed but that’s as far as we’ve gone. Not even handsy.”

“Okay, stop, don’t want that image.” Alex pressed a hand over her face and another over Lena’s, which was quickly swatted away. “But I can promise you that she is very much interested in you and it’s just a cultural thing about her not doing intimate things.”

“Really?” Lena asked, relief palpably exuding from her.

“Yeah, Kryptonians don’t do sex unless they’re officially intendeds,” Alex explained exasperatedly. "They don't even really do sex at all."

“Oh god, okay.” Lena let out a deep breath. “I was starting to worry that it had to do with genitals.”

“No, I promise that everything looks very human, at least from the outside.”

Lena gave Alex a look. “How do you know that?”

“On Krypton, they sleep naked,” Alex explained, sighing. “She had a nightmare one night and I went to check on her and she was very much naked.”

“She doesn’t sleep naked now though?”

“Yeah, she moved into my room a week later and _I did not want her to be naked._ ”

“Hm,” Lena hummed. Alex dropped her hand and glanced over at Lena and noticed that Lena looked distracted.

“Don’t you dare think about proposing to my sister just so you can get laid,” Alex hissed and Lena quickly flushed.

“I wasn’t thinking that!” Lena shouted. “I wouldn’t do that to her.”

“But have you thought about marrying her?” Alex asked. Even if Kara hadn’t really brought up the topic again with Lena, Alex knew it was killing her sister inside.

“I’ve thought about it,” Lena answered tentatively. This was something Alex brought up frequently and Lena understood why but she didn’t want to give Alex too much hope too soon. “It’s still too soon.”

“I understand,” Alex said. And she did. “Anyway, back to what you were thinking.”

“Right, um.” Lena hesitated. “It’s been… a while. Since, y’know.”

“Oh. So are you just handling the frustration yourself?”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” Lena fidgeted with the little bit of tech still in her hands. “I… I _can’t_ when she- when she can hear everything.”

“ _Oh_.”

“I was hoping you had something, to block her out. I would make it myself, but Kara always seems to _know_.”

Alex refused to speak, not wanting to make some crude joke she’d regret, and went to dig into a cabinet and eventually pulled out a thing that looked like a usb stick with a button.

“Just click this when you’re, y’know.” Alex stood resolute and refused to look Lena in the eye. "It'll make a buzzing sound she can't hear over."

“Thanks,” Lena squeaked. “I should go.”

“You do that.”

Lena ran out of the lab and the DEO and Alex went to get Elena.

//

“She wants to have _sex?_ ” Kara asked, cringing. It was sister night and Elena was at L-Corp, being looked after by Lena and Jess.

Alex nodded. “It’s a thing that humans do.”

“How do two women even _do_ that?”

“Kara, really? You’ve never thought about it?”

“ _No._ ”

“ _I’m_ in a gay relationship and, more importantly, _so are you_. You’ve _never_ even looked it up?”

Kara shook her head furiously and Alex sighed.

“You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with, you know that,” Alex assured. “I’m just letting you know.”

“So she wants to… do _that_ ,” Kara said slowly.

“I told her about the Krypton culture thing,” Alex said, informing her. “She’s not expecting you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“I… I don’t think I’d be opposed to it, though?” Kara stuttered out.

“Kara, you can’t even look at your own vagina without looking like you’re going to cry,” Alex deadpanned. “Really, you don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Lena’s a big girl, she can handle herself.” _Like hell_ would Alex let her baby sister pressure herself into something she wasn’t ready for.

“Thanks, Alex,” Kara mumbled.

Alex pulled Kara into a tight hug. “You get to think about your own happiness, too. You don’t have to do things just to fit in, Lena understands that.”

//

Later that night, Kara was spooning Lena and they were just talking about their day. Then, Lena turned around to face Kara.

“Alex texted me after she left,” Lena whispered. “And it’s okay if we never have sex, okay?”

“Okay,” Kara whispered back.

Lena kissed her lightly and then turned back around. “Now tell me about how much of a jerk Snapper was again today.”


End file.
